Schecter Model T Session

[mcnach]

I spent a little while looking for YouTube videos (yes, I know) and I came across some cool sounding examples...

at 00:20 or so there's a section that caught my ear, although in general it sounds good.

 

and something by the same guy, including a bit of slap in a more 'metal' setting, not bad...

 

 

[mcnach]

This is more my thing... it has a nice mildly overdriven tone which sounds great fingerstyle and slapped too

 

 

[krispn]

Looks like he's made some sort of ramp? before installing the MM pick up...but I am getting old and have failing eyes!

[mcnach]

[ double post]

Edited March 3, 2018 by mcnach

[mcnach]

 

This is pretty cool too. Nice deep slapped tone and fingerstyle examples. It covers low and some pretty high notes, sounding all pretty good... 

The section around 2:30 has a very 'girthy' but well defined sound.

At 3:00 it has a really cool break covering slap/fingerstyle that sounds great... hmmm.

I like!

 

 

 

[mcnach]

3 minutes ago, krispn said:

Looks like he's made some sort of ramp? before installing the MM pick up...but I am getting old and have failing eyes!

 

No MM pickup, it's the stock EMG J/P pickups (you can see the logo sometimes), but he's made some kind of ramp indeed.

[krispn]

Told you failing eyes

 

[mcnach]

23 hours ago, Horrorhiker said:

Yeah it's the first actual bad review I could find, and it reeks of sour grapes for some reason.

 

And what's with the 'painted' fret markers comment... he says they even go over the side of the fingerboard...

They are ebony *blocks* and yes, they are inserted from the side so that they're visible. 

Some people...

[krispn]

It's a fine looking bass.

[Horrorhiker]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

Maruszczyk

And what's with the 'painted' fret markers comment... he says they even go over the side of the fingerboard...

They are ebony *blocks* and yes, they are inserted from the side so that they're visible. 

Some people...

I wonder if they did in fact get a fake somehow. You can't mistake blocks for paint can you? 

It looks better and better with each video. Really punchy sound. And we know it can handle mellow too, by that other guys vids. 

 

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, Horrorhiker said:

I wonder if they did in fact get a fake somehow. You can't mistake blocks for paint can you? 

It looks better and better with each video. Really punchy sound. And we know it can handle mellow too, by that other guys vids. 

 

 

Never underestimate the ability of humans to get confused

Remember the Squier Jazz Vintage Modified series with the black block markers? Initially I heard people moaning that they were stickers and would come off. I had one myself and could not see how anybody could think that... but someone out there did.

That guy certainly got a good sound out of it. The question is how much he processed the signal! But judging by other videos, even the live ones with poor sound and my experience of EMG pickups... I don't expect to be disappointed.

Weight, however, is something that I'm a little concerned about. It's not a deal breaker for me... after all, my USA EBMM SUB is one of my favourite basses and it weighs just over 10 lbs. But I do prefer lighter instruments. Judging by reviews online, it may not be very light... however it's sometimes difficult to say which Model T they were talking about.

I'm getting pretty excited. It should arrive on Tuesday... but on Tuesday I'm away all day... in prison  Not as an inmate but doing a bit for a science teaching programme. Regardless, I can't just escape when I want to (even if it's 4 minutes away from home by car!) and I can't even have my phone with me. So I'll miss the delivery. If I'm lucky, they'll leave a card and I could call them in time to cancel the next day delivery, so that I could collect from their depot on Wednesday. If that works out... then I can take it to my band's practice that evening... but I don't want to bring my hopes up as there's so many things that can go wrong from past experiences.

[mcnach]

 

This sounds pretty decent too... 

Ok, I'll stop already

[yorks5stringer]

There's a Lakeland version for sale in the ads here but it has PBass pickups only. With a hard case too...

Edited March 5, 2018 by yorks5stringer

[mcnach]

3 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

There's a Lakeland version for sale in the ads here but it has PBass pickups only. With a hard case too...

 

? really? 

I haven't seen anything like it... do you have a link? I'm curious.

 

edit: oh, Karlfer's 44-51! Yeah, that's nice... and I could meet him in person half-way (ish, in Carlisle... we've done that before ;)) But it's a very different animal really.

Edited March 6, 2018 by mcnach

[jimmy23cricket]

I have one of these. Opted for one over a Sandberg and US Fender due to the fact it runs P/J EMG's (which work for me)

I can say that they are very good basses. Good size neck, lots of sound options and quite well put togeather with good components. Really dig the retro/modern take on it and gets lots of comments from folk.

It is quite heavy for a modern bass, but I kind of like that.

 

 

[Horrorhiker]

4 hours ago, jimmy23cricket said:

I have one of these. Opted for one over a Sandberg and US Fender due to the fact it runs P/J EMG's (which work for me)

I can say that they are very good basses. Good size neck, lots of sound options and quite well put togeather with good components. Really dig the retro/modern take on it and gets lots of comments from folk.

It is quite heavy for a modern bass, but I kind of like that.

 

 

Ooh. There are a few of us with our eye on these. Can I ask, did you buy it blind or try it first? Also, can you get a good P bass type tone out of it? It sounds great for getting a bit of poke, but havent heard much purely from the neck pick up on videos etc as far as I can tell. 

I'm weighing up around about the same type of decision. Lakland/Sandberg/US Fender/YamahaBB....or this. As ive said a few times on this thread, this one looks the nicest to me. Just a bit of a gamble. 

[CameronJ]

6 hours ago, jimmy23cricket said:

I have one of these. Opted for one over a Sandberg and US Fender due to the fact it runs P/J EMG's (which work for me)

I can say that they are very good basses. Good size neck, lots of sound options and quite well put togeather with good components. Really dig the retro/modern take on it and gets lots of comments from folk.

It is quite heavy for a modern bass, but I kind of like that.

 

 

Oooh. Do you have any sound clips/videos of you playing it?

[AndyTravis]

15 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

? really? 

I haven't seen anything like it... do you have a link? I'm curious.

 

edit: oh, Karlfer's 44-51! Yeah, that's nice... and I could meet him in person half-way (ish, in Carlisle... we've done that before ;)) But it's a very different animal really.

I reckon I’d be in love if it had a j pickup fitted at the bridge...

[mcnach]

3 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I reckon I’d be in love if it had a j pickup fitted at the bridge...

 

Best a double J... but then I already have a Maruszczyk like that (just a bit less pretty)

[mcnach]

Well... I've got the bass.

Today I was home at 4pm from work (today it was a very early start but literally 4min away from home, so it was nice to be home before the traffic even really got seriously bad).

It was doubly nice as I had arranged online to have the bass stay at the depot and for me to collect it. I received a confirmation with a note stating that they were open until 8pm and that if not collected today it'd be sent back. Well, they attempted to deliver anyway, and ended up leaving it with a neighbout. UKMAIL... I can't tell you just how many times you've failed me like this in the past... at least this time they actually left it somewhere I could get to it quickly, so l was lucky, but I'd have been really annoyed to go to the depot (13 miles away) to find they again said one thing but did another... 

Anyway... I got it out. I haven't weighed it but it's not heavy, which is a good thing. It does look as nice as in the photographs... or better. Mine has a very nice grain and I love the tint in person, very nice and warm. 

It had a rather high action for my liking, so before I even plugged it in I changed that. I had to lower the saddles quite a bit and tweak the truss rod more than I expected... so I was worried the high action was hiding uneven fretwork... but nope, I got it really nice and low and it looks like the frets are all nice and even, the nut is well cut, and it's a very nice neck to play. Pretty shallow profile.

Then I plug it in, with the preamp (Bass/Treble) set at the centre detent which I assume is flat, and both pickups on (blend control set at the middle)

And it's ok. 

Not great, not bad. OK. I'm very underwhelmed here, especially after all the anticipation.

There's some funky harsh midrange going on that I am not loving, especially slapped. Bass end of the P pickup was a bit too overpowering, perhaps due to my lowering the strings? I bring that side down a bit and things get better... but it's not a lovely tone. 

The bridge pickup... reminded me of why I didn't like a 75RI Jazz bass I had, which was equipped with a set of EMG J. They really are not my thing, and boosting bass a bit doesn't really make it thick enough, it still sounds way too clean for my liking with a lot of top end and some added low end on top... 

The neck pickup... hmm. Ok, I actually like the neck pickup a bit more. It's aggressive, and it has that mid-growl that I love on Precisions... but it's still a little 'unrefined'... so I turn down the treble a bit. NOW we are starting to get somewhere.

This bass comes with Ernie Ball nickels 45-105. They are not high tension, but when I use these strings I prefer their 45-100 set and only really after I've played them a bit. I really dislike the brightness they have when new. I generally hate new strings. I don't want them dead, but I struggle when I change strings until they are tamed a bit. So here we have a bass with strings brighter than I like, and pickups that are probably brighter, or at least with an extended top end compared to what I prefer... so not the best combination to impress me on a "first date".

I played a little more, turning down treble almost to max, and it is nicer but I'm not fully feeling it. I miss having a semiparametric mids control... the treble frequency is quite well chosen so when I cut it works the way I want it although it doesn't cut quite enough. The bass... I don't really feel like adding or removing. I wish it had a passive pone control and a semiparametric mids control instead.

At this point I look at it, put it down, and go away to do something else. I'm thinking that I should be very careful with it, not mark it in any way, because there's a good chance this bass will be returned: it is a perfectly fine bass... but I'm not really loving it and I don't see myself using it that much after the "novelty" wears off.

...

I'm pretty much sure that I will return it. But I decide to give myself until Monday to make up my mind (it just leaves me tonight and Wednesday night, and Sunday night, as I'm busy the rest of the time).

...

Then I have another go, after I've eaten. This time, crucially, I'm using backing tracks (some random funk/rock/reggae ones I find on youtube, as well as stuff from my own band). And now things start sounding better. 

About an hour and a half later... I'm leaning towards keeping it, but I'm still 100% sure.

These are my thoughts at the moment:

The bass feels very nice, the neck is just my kind of neck (I could do wider, but it's wide enough and it's shallow so it doesn't feel chunky but it's got "meat"). Cosmetically and physically I have no issues here. It's not the lightest bass but it's not a heavy bass at all, probably a bit lighter than my Stingray.

The preamp... I'm not a big fan of. The stacked knobs don't feel that great, a bit 'gritty' even if the operation is noise-free. The treble is just right in terms of the frequency centre that I like to cut, especially with new strings. I wish it cut cut a bit more than it does. The bass... seems a bit lower than I'd like... but then that's usually how I feel with most preamps. I miss having control over the mids. I'm used to the John East mids module, or the 2-band Stingray preamp which after years of use I instinctively know how to set so that I get the sound I want. This preamp doesn't seem as interactive as the Stingray one, but there's still some degree if interaction and I'm not yet familiar with it. As it is, I still would like to have a bit more control on the mids... and if this bass was to stay, I can see replacing the preamp in the future for a John East mids module, and using a passive tone control. But not in a hurry. I'd imagine most people would be more than happy with the EMG preamp, I think it's just me being almost obsessed by the John East preamps, of which I have a few :D)

The pickups... 

I still don't love the Jazz bridge. It's too clean and thin and I can't thicken it the way I want by adding bass to it the way I can on a J-Retro preamp with any other standard Jazz pickups I've tried. However... with both pickups on, you get a nice sound, with a bit more midrange than usual for a P/J combo but still somewhat scooped... but here is where the blend knob comes handy: just turn it a bit towards the bridge... and you gain clarity very nicely, still sounding fat and punchy. For THAT reason alone, the EMG Jazz deserves to stay. I'd never use it on its own, but it allows me to control the midrange when using both pickups, and it's what makes me not too worried about keeping it stock. It's a sound that on its own wasn't that nice.... but when playing along to backing tracks it started to make me smile. It sits very well in the mix, but it still has a nice presence.

The EMG P pickup... now, this is a LOVELY sound. It's not a traditional vintage Precision type of sound at all... but it still sounds like a Precision, and it has that low midrange growl... hmmm... This is a very good sound! No more to add... it's just a really good Precision sound. Aggressive, but taming the top end just sounds incredible. In the mix it sounds really really good. Powerful, strong presence, but not overpowering. 

It's the EMG P that probably swayed me the most towards keeping it. I'd probably use this bass as a Precision most of the time, and sometimes with both pickups on. But it makes me wonder... what if I just put an EMG P into my cheap but lovely to play Squier Mike Dirnt Precision? I suspect I'd end up with something I really like, and save a bunch of money. 

So, is it really worth it? Should I keep the Model T? I'm not sure.

It will not replace my Classic 50s Fender Precision, because this one has THE classic Precision sound. 

It will not replace my passive Maruszczyk Jake P/JJ, because this one has righteous funk and reggae sounds and the JJ pickup at the bridge is a very useful sound by itself... although it doesn't do very well the classic Precision sound.

But the EMG P on the Model T is completely grin-inducing once I tamed the treble a bit. I think once I put a set of stainless steel DR Fat Beams, and let them get 'funky' for a couple of months, the Model T could sound pretty awesome. But... the tonal adjustments onboard are not my favourite options, and I'll never know 100% until I use my preferred strings for a bit... Some argue that if you say "this bass is great but... " and then start saying how you'd shape its sound with EQ etc, that it's probably not a 'keeper' bass. And in my experience, the basses that are surviving any culls are the ones that felt and sounded right from the start, regardless whether the strings were my favourite, new or old...

It just seems that £700+ may be a little too much for an instrument that doesn't completely floor me (as nice as it is) when I really do not have a need for a bass like that right now.

So... I'll retire and meditate for a bit, then play some more... and see how I fee in a couple of days.

[mcnach]

God, that was long!!!!

[Cuzzie]

Long but great

[bkman42]

PM Sent

[mcnach]

I played the bass quite a bit more now.

It's growing on me. Lots. Once I stopped messing with it and just played it, with minor adjustments as I went along... I started really enjoying this.

That position on the blend knob with both pickups on and favouring *slighty* the bridge pickup is such a great rubbery "finger funk" type of sound. I love it. And the P on its own, adding a tiny bit of treble growls like a beast and has a pretty cool slap sound although there's still something on the upper mids that I don't quite like when slapped.

Anyway... undecided still... but I'm very likely keeping it now.

Oh, and I weighed it, 8.5 lbs... lighter than my Stingray indeed. 

[Al Krow]

8 minutes ago, mcnach said:

I played the bass quite a bit more now.

It's growing on me. Lots. Once I stopped messing with it and just played it, with minor adjustments as I went along... I started really enjoying this.

 

If you fancy doing a recording  - it would be just GREAT to hear you playing the same track on your Model T, your Fender P, your Maruszczyk Jake P/JJ and your Stingray so we get to hear an A/B of the four basses. If you mange to upload something on YouTube as a Bass Shoot Out even better - I suspect you'll get a fair few hits (although not as many as the young lass playing a Yammy BB2024 on the Yammy thread  )

PS love the candid honest review you posted above. So much more useful than the not uncommon "I've just got the best thing since sliced bread review...ooops I've since moved it on 'cos I've discovered croissants taste nicer."

 

Edited March 7, 2018 by Al Krow